The Gold Escorts
From the earliest days of the gold rush, diggers needed a secure method of delivering their gold to the cities, where prices were higher than on the fields. They could take it themselves, but that meant leaving the field and their claim and risking a hold-up by bushrangers who terrorised, robbed and even killed for gold.
At first, the government organised a weekly armed escort with the mail. But as gold discoveries spread, it became imperative that the gold was delivered securely.
In September 1851, a group of successful Ballarat diggers asked the commander of the Native Police Corps for an escort party to protect their gold on the journey from the gold fields to Geelong. The commander refused this request so the Ballarat diggers asked Governor La Trobe for help. They argued that they paid high fees for their miners' licenses and that part of this money should be used to pay for protection for their gold.
Two weeks after the Ballarat diggers sent their petition to the Governor, the first government gold escort escorted a delivery of gold from Ballarat to Geelong.
At first, the government organised a weekly armed escort with the mail. But as gold discoveries spread, it became imperative that the gold was delivered securely.
In September 1851, a group of successful Ballarat diggers asked the commander of the Native Police Corps for an escort party to protect their gold on the journey from the gold fields to Geelong. The commander refused this request so the Ballarat diggers asked Governor La Trobe for help. They argued that they paid high fees for their miners' licenses and that part of this money should be used to pay for protection for their gold.
Two weeks after the Ballarat diggers sent their petition to the Governor, the first government gold escort escorted a delivery of gold from Ballarat to Geelong.
Diggers were charged a shilling an ounce to have their gold escorted. However, there was no guarantee of safe delivery and the government did not accept any liability for the loss of the gold if, for some reason, it did not arrive. If the digger could not produce his receipt and proof of identity when reclaiming his gold, it was forfeited to the government. And though a woman was authorised to collect her husband’s gold from the treasury, there were strict rules she had to abide by. A woman could only take up to 1.5 ounces of gold, when the average consignment was well over a pound.
The British 40th Regiment was given the responsibility of escorting the escort cart, which held 1500 ounces of gold. Members of the Native Police Corps also guarded the gold. There was some conflict between the police and the Aboriginal troopers. Many people objected to the Aboriginal people being given the same authority as the police force. Often diggers felt the same way. It was a difficult life for the Native Police, and there is much historical evidence of physical and verbal abuse towards the Aboriginal troopers by their commanding officers.
With the discovery of gold came the revival of bushranging. The Victorian highwaymen were mostly escaped convicts or former convicts, many of them from Tasmania, where transportation did not end until 1853.
The gold escorts were given these instructions:
"Don’t let any man come near you. Challenge at fifty yards and warn them to stand off. If they still come on, fire!"
The gold escorts were very slow, averaging six kilometres an hour along the rough roads. Many of Victoria’s country towns began by servicing the gold escorts that passed through them. They were known as the "ten mile towns".